Advantages

"Good Value"

Bright

Disadvantages

"Can slip round little wrists"

Cute and Educational

We were given a set of these wrist and foot rattles by Lamaze when our little man was born almost five months ago and he has had a fair bit of use out of them since, although not so much anymore. The idea behind these toys is that they help babies to work out that their feet and hands are their own by making a noise every time they move them.

The toys are little material bracelets topped with various bug type creatures. The wrist straps are coloured in the unmistakable black and white of the Lamaze range and not by accident either, seeing as this contrast it what even tiny babies can pick out straight away. My little boy loved looking at the black and white straps and was fascinated by them, which presumably helped with the learning about his own body parts thing. The bugs that they are topped with, I love because they are bright and whimsical. Little man loved them too and he loved sticking them in his mouth even more.

The little bugs rattle just enough that he could hear them but no so much that it was too loud or irritating for him. He did seem to like them and was fascinated with them for a long while. I say was because he doesn't need them any more because he has well and truly found his hands and feet and quite happily sticks them both in his mouth freely.

The toys cost about £10 and I would say that they are worth that money and would recommend them.

Comments

Advantages

"Entertains little one"

"Bright colours"

"Teaches cause and effect"

Disadvantages

Wrist and Foot Rattles for Babies

We received these Lamaze wrist and foot rattles as part of a gift when I left work to go on maternity leave. I have since seen them in department stores and toy shops priced anywhere between 7 GBP and 9 GBP. They currently retail for 7.47 GBP on Amazon.
The rattles are basically designed to be worn on your baby's feet and hands, to help them explore and stimulate their senses. They encourage baby to learn about cause and effect by making noise as they move their hands and feet, and in turn this encourages them to explore more. The wrist rattles basically wrap around the wrist, and the foot ones are worn in the same way as socks. Annoyingly, they don't stay on for long, so I spend a lot of time putting them back on when my baby is wearing these. He does seem quite interested in them now he is discovering his hands and feet. Occasionally, I see him staring at his hands and moving them, as though he's just realised they are attached to him. When he wears the wrist rattle, he looks in wonder as he realises that his movement is responsible for the noise. This is very cute to see him learning about cause and effect, but being entertained at the same time.
The rattles are very colourful. Ours are mainly orange and green, with ladybirds and butterflies attached. There appear to be a few different designs available. Typically, they tend to end up in my baby's mouth once they've fallen off, and they can get quite soaked from this, so it's great that they can just be thrown in the washing machine.
One of the best features about these is that the noise the rattle makes is quite discreet, so it won't annoy you or give you a headache. Our little boy falls around laughing if we throw these in the air and catch them, so although they're designed to be worn, they can be played with in different ways. I have also used the sock ones as finger puppets, when trying to keep the little man entertained when he's getting restless. This is the advantage of them being so small, because they can easily fit into the changing bag without taking up too much room, and then you have something on hand to keep baby entertained.
The quality of these is as you would expect from Lamaze, and despite being chewed and washed ours are still in good condition. My main criticism of these is that they don't stay on for long, and I also think at full price (RRP around 12 GBP) they are expensive for what they are. They would make a lovely gift, however, and it's very cute to see baby wearing all of these at the same time and look at his hands and feet as he tries to figure out where the noise is coming from.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Interesting toy that will only last a few months

When my son was born I was given the Lamaze Garden Bug Wrist Rattle and Foot Finder set as a present and thought they looked like an interesting first toy. The set currently (May 2012) retails for £9 on Amazon.

The set comprises 2 socks that are black and white striped, one has a chunky ladybug on and the other has a cure little butterfly on; and 2 wrist rattles, one is purple with a bug on and the other is pink and yellow stripped with a smaller ladybug on.

The socks are easy to put on though I found that my baby would kick his legs and rub his feet together and they would constantly fall off, which I found annoying. Once he had discovered his feet he would put them in his mouth and chew on the sock or pull it off. The wrist rattles were much better as they are secured to the babies wrist with Velcro so they stay in place whilst your baby is flapping his hands and trying to discover what you have attached to him. The rattles are not heavy and are made of soft material that does not rub on your babies delicate skin. I started using the set at about 2 months and by about 5 months the socks were getting a bit tight, by around 7 months the wrist rattles were too small, but I would loop them together and he would still play with them. I would also attach the wrist rattles to his pushchair or the side of his cot so he could play with them, so they proved to be quite versatile. The rattles sounded like tiny little beads, and were very soft on the ear. Also the set was easy to wash with a bit of soap and water.

The aim of the rattles is to help your baby discover his hands and feet and to develop hand and eye coordination.Overall I would recommend the set to others, as they are a good first toy that my baby seemed to enjoy, the only downside was the fact that socks kept falling off, so overall I got more use out of the wrist rattles.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

A poor contribution from Lamaze

I really love the Lamaze range of baby toys, and my daughter is gathering a good amount of them in her toy box. For Christmas, she received a Lamaze gift box from her grandparents which included several different Lamaze items including this set of Gardenbug Wrist Rattles an Footfinders, which costs just under £9 for the set on the likes of amazon.

Within this set, there are two wrist rattles, and two footfinders, which are meant to be put on the appropriate parts of your baby and with the rattle noise encourage discovery, hand eye coordination and even inspire pretend play. Well since my daughter is almost five months old, the pretend play element is not really appropriate to her.

On both the wrist and foot parts there are gardenbugs, which are stuck on the material. There are two different bugs on the wrist rattles, and a patterned strap attached to your baby's wrist with velcro. As your baby moves, they should hear the rattle and be able to locate the noise and ulimately find their wrist I suppose. There are several problems with these wrist rattles, despite them looking extremely cute and colourful. Firstly, they are not easy to get on a wriggling baby, who is wondering what you are doing with their arm. My daughter will hardly sit still to even allow me to put it round her wrist. Secondly, when I have got it attached, the rattle is so quiet, that there would need to be no other noise in the room for her to even hear it. She isn't in the least bit interested in this thing on her wrist, probably because she doesn't really want it on, and she can't hear anything exciting from it. I have completely given up even attempting to put these on her now, and that is after several failed tries.

The footfinders are actually worse. These are meant to act as socks on your baby's feet. The big problem with these is that they are not a good fit at all. They aren't shaped like socks to fit baby's feet properly, as there is no heel, and they are extremely difficult to get onto the feet. When I did manage to get one on, with a rather agitated baby wondering what on earth I was doing, My daughter had it kicked off, simply by moving her legs, so there is absolutely no staying power either. She never even got a chance to listen for any rattle, but it too is faint like the wrist rattles. These footfinders may have black and white colours which my baby usually likes to look at, but these have not captures her attention in the slightest and are simply not made well enough to slide on to baby's feet like a pair of socks.

All in all, I am a big fan of Lamaze, but these are the first product that I have from their collection which I think are a complete waste of money. My daughter, who loves to look at anything and everything at the moment, shows absolutely no interest in either the wrist or or footfinder, which doesn't say much for the product. The footfinders in particular are not designed well at all. Very disappointing!

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Toys from Lamaze that will help your baby (or babies) find their feet (and hands).

Although Mr Lools and I did receive a large number of gifts and toys when our twin boys were born this did not stop us from purchasing yet more toys for them, even from a young age. Because we were given a lot of gift vouchers and gift cards we were itching to spend these on our boys and as a result made quite a few purchases in the first few weeks after they were born. As new parents, bright, colourful and pretty toys caught our eyes and one of these toys that we purchased in this "new parent haze" was the Lamaze Wrist Rattles and Feet Finders.

Basically these are 2 black and socks with brightly coloured bugs that are attached to the sock which rattle when put on a baby's feet. There are also two long black and white straps with Velcro fastenings. Attached to these are a brightly coloured bug which makes a rattling noise and these straps can be placed around a baby's wrist.

Lamaze state the toys are suitable from birth.

The RRP for the Lamaze Wrist Rattles and Feet Finders is £12.99. The Lamaze Wrist Rattles and Feet Finders are very cute looking, well-made toys however for what essentially looks like socks that rattle and two bracelet rattles this does seem very expensive and on reflection after how little use my boys got out of these I do think the toys are massively overpriced. The Lamaze Wrist Rattles and Feet Finders are sold by a number of retailers including Mothercare, Boots, Tesco, Sainsbury's and Toys R Us. Prices vary and the toy is often on special offer but you can typically expect to pay in the region of £10-£12.

***Our Experience***We started using these on my boys when they were around 8 weeks old. At this age they were probably smaller than most newborn babies and both weighed around 6lb. Although small and born slightly early (just over 4 weeks) they were not behind development wise and were smiling and making attempts to move their hands and would focus on toys.

When I first took the wrist rattles and feet finders out of the packaging I felt they did look slightly big in size but they did look like very cute toys. The "foot finders" were really socks which are black and white striped and each of the socks has a butterfly on each of the feet. These are brightly coloured and rattle and the butterfly on both of the "feet" have crinkly silky wings. The "wrist rattles" are made from a 1 inch wide bracelet of soft black and white material. One end of the strap has a Velcro section which is simply connected to the soft strap so there is no specific wrist size that these bracelet rattles fit as they can be adjusted as large or small as you like. On each of the wrist rattles there is a thick round bug with a friendly face which rattles and also has crinkly wings.

When we first tried the wrist rattles and foot finders on my boys (on separate occasions as we only purchased one pack) both of them hated the toys and screamed. The foot finders were huge on my boys who were quite small and almost immediately they both managed to kick the socks off their feet. Even with thick socks or put over baby grows with feet in these do not stay on the feet of small babies which is due to the larger size but the design of the socks means there is not an elasticated section around the top of the sock like you find with traditional baby (or adult) socks. Over the next four months when using this toy the foot finders were continually kicked off and we spent more time putting them back on their feet as opposed to them "finding their feet" and playing with the toys. Even at 6 months old the foot finders did not fit my boys properly and the poor design actually limited their enjoyment with this part of the toy.

As mentioned when we first tried the wrist rattles on my boys they hated them and I think was due to the sheer size of the rattles on their wrists as they looked very overwhelming. The bugs were a lot larger than my boy's hands and although they rattled and moved their hands about, the toys seemed to cause more annoyance as despite being very light they just looked so awkward and cumbersome on my boys' tiny wrists.

After a few attempts my boys started to tolerate these being put on their wrists (and feet when they stayed on). They seemed to get more enjoyment from just looking and touching the bugs attached to their wrists and hearing the crinkly material and sucking on the silky wings on the bugs. They did seem to take interest in waving their hands around and hearing the bugs rattle, which then encouraged them to move more but they did lose interest quite quickly in these toys because they would fall off their feet and wrists.

We got very little use out of these toys as I feel they are only really suitable for a baby for a limited time period during their development. The wrist and foot finders do encourage a very young baby to move and aid physical development by encouraging them to focus on objects because of the bright bold colours but also by moving their hands and feet around in order to hear the rattles. By 6 months old my boys had outgrown these toys in the sense that they were bored by the toys, and would actually pull the rattles off their wrists, despite the socks still being too large for their feet at 6 months old.

Durability wise these are very well made toys. The toys are suitable from birth and all of the pieces of the bugs are very firmly attached and securely stitched which is very reassuring as a parent as these are designed for very young babies who tend to chew and suckle on toys. The Velcro section on the wrist rattles is soft so it is not likely to scratch a young baby but I do think this affects how firmly it stays on the wrist and probably why it could not hold onto my boys wrists very securely. The toys are made entirely from material which means they easily get dirty especially as they get chewed and dropped by babies however are machine washable and after numerous spins in my washing machine the Lamaze Wrist Rattles and Feet Finders look as new.

***Overall***I have kept these for the arrival of baby number 3 and hopefully will have more success and use out of the Lamaze Wrist Rattles and Feet Finders this time around. These do look like a lovely toy as they are bright, colourful and very well made and in theory sound like a fun toy for a young baby to play with and entertain themselves with. However our experience did not live up to our expectations and in all honesty I was very disappointed with this toy.

Both of my twin boys didn't seem too impressed with either the wrist rattles or foot finders and after a few shakes and smiles they lost interest very quickly in the toys. The design of the toys did not help matters and because both the wrist rattles and the sock foot finders constantly fell off my boys feet and wrists this did not help to keep their attention as I spent more time trying to pop these back on their feet and arms. My boys were very small babies so this is a reason why I feel for them these toys were not particularly suitable and I would not recommend to other parents with small babies, especially as the sock foot finders are large and are likely to fall off an "average" sized baby.

The toys only have limited use and by 6 months most babies will find these more of an annoyance or be able to kick/ pull the toys off. Therefore for £12.99 I feel this is a very expensive toy which in all honestly left us quite disappointed.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

A well made product from Lamaze, my little one needs to be older to get best use from it.

I'm fast becoming a big fan of Lamaze products for babies. They are well made, colourful and very appealing to the eye. Whilst in the Early Learning Centre I spotted the Wrist Rattle and Footfinder set and was attracted to the picture of a baby on the front playing merrily with his feet. It seemed perfect for my little boy who is now 3 months old. I paid £14 for the set which is perhaps a little expensive but I knew I'd be getting a quality product so didn't mind paying.

The product is a set consisting of two wrist rattles comprised of a strip of patterned green fabric (different from the above picture) which is meant to look like foliage with a cute ladybird on one and a flying insect on the other. The insects have a rattle inside and the strip of fabric goes round baby's wrist (one for each wrist) and velcros on. Then there are two footfinders which are like little socks, yellow in this case rather than the black and white stripes pictures above, and these also have cute insects sewn on which also contain a rattle. The idea is that the rattling noise, bright colours and interesting creatures encourage baby to find his hands and feet to play with.

I tried these with my son as soon as we got them home and I found that the rattle wasn't a very loud one and wouldn't really be loud enough to attract his attention sufficiently for him to notice either the wrist rattles or the footfinders. Unless they were rattles really hard, the sound was barely noticeable. He enjoyed chewing on the wrist rattles but didn't notice that he had anything on his feet at all! Of course we will persevere with using them and I'm sure as he gets older he'll have more fun with them. I currently use the wrist rattles to help secure his hanging Lamaze toys to his playgym! Not quite what Lamaze intended but they serve a purpose at the moment.

I'm happy with the product as I know that as he gets older, my son will get more use out of the footfinders in particular but the wrist rattles weren't particularly useful due to the quiet volume of the rattle.

All in all, a well made, cute product from Lamaze.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

lovely toy for babies

I bought these wrist rattle and footfinder set by lamaze when I was expecting the arrival of my son. I was looking for toys that he could enjoy from an early age and noticed on the box that these come in that they were suitable for 0+ months. I have notied that on the product description above, and across the internet, that the suggested age is actually 3+ months and I would agree with this.

I bought these for £7.99 from amazon (I have seen them priced much higher in various shops). Contained in the box are two wrist rattles and two 'footfinders'. Each have a brightly coloured 'garden bug' attached which rsttles upon moving to attract the baby's attention. The bugs are ladybirds and butterflies. The wrist rattles are the bugs attached to a long strip of bright material which wraps around the baby's wrist and attaches with velcro. The footfinders are the bugs attached to black and white stripy socks.

The toys are a simple idea, well executed. The idea is that the bright colours will attract baby's attention and the rattling noise when they move their arms and legs will help them to discover their hands and feet. I was worried initially that putting these on my little boy would irritate him, but they do not have that affect at all. He enjoys kicking his legs and waving his arms and these are beginning to catch his attention when doing this. He is 3 months now and only really just beginning to notice his feet. I would therefore say that 3+ months is the best time to be using these. At the moment, the colours seem to be catching his eye a little more than the rattle is attracting his ear. The rattle is quite quiet, so we have to ensure the room is quiet with no background noise when using these. He usually uses these for just a few minutes at a time as they are not very engaging to him ust yet, but I have no doubt that they are doing the job for which they were bought.

I think that these are a lovely toy for young babies and would recommend them.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

A nice little buy for getting your baby started with toys

These Lamaze wrist and foot rattles are a good start for getting your baby to play. Even babies as young as 3 months can use these rattles because even though they aren't able to properly hold toys yet, these just attach to your baby so they can still have a little bit of entertainment without having to hold anything. They are bright and colourful too so they attract your babies attention.

The wrist rattles have little bugs on them which my son likes putting in his mouth and sucking and the foot rattles also have little bugs on them too which rattle when your baby moves about. They are easy to put on, the foot rattles are worn just like socks and the wrist rattles just velcro around your babies wrist. They are also easy to wash and can just be simply put into the washing machine. These rattles are such a simple toy but a great buy for younger babies. They cost around £10.

Advantages

Disadvantages

a lovely set for your child

These are rattles that can be attached to the baby's wrist so when they shake their arm they can hear the rattling sound. There are socks that have rattles attached to them as well.

They are designed to help stimulate your baby and reward them when they start to discover these rattles.

I received these rattles as part of a Lamaze set that I had bought for my daughter. It is called the Lamaze Learning Through Play Gift Pack and is for babies aged 0 - 18 Months. It cost me £22.99 for this bundle and I got bug stackers and a clutch cube.

To buy the wrist rattle and foot finder set by itself it cost £11.99.

**THE RATTLES**

In the set you get two wrist rattles. Each wrist rattle is different and they are easily attached to your child's arm. You can adjust them to different sizes so as your child grows they can be bigger if they need be. They both are brightly coloured.

The first rattle strap is purple with green and white swirls The back of it feels like felt and is bright green in colour. A Lamaze tag is attached to the top of the wrist band but it doesn't get in the way in fact is another thing for your child to explore. There is a bug attached to this with the rattle inside.

The bug looks like a bee. It has a stripy body in black and white with a green head and has cute wee eyes. The wings on the bee is made out of crinkly bright yellow material that has orange squares on it. As soon as you touch it the crinkle sound can be heard. For the antenna's there is rope like material with knots on them. My daughter loves putting these into her mouth.

The second rattle is completely different the strap has different sized stripes along it in very bright colours. The back is also felt and is blue in colour.

The bug that has the rattle inside this time looks like a beetle with a difference. The body is bright yellow with pink crowns, white blobs and orange dots on it. Underneath the body is pink and has taggie legs that are pink. There are six taggie legs in total. The head is a cute purple head with big eyes and a nice smile.

There are two rattle socks which are a simple idea they basically are socks with bug rattles sewn into them. Each sock is made out of black and white strips and the bug (with a rattle inside) is different on each on.

The first bug is a ladybug and has a red body with embroidered dots on the body with a strip of felt down the middle. The head of the ladybug is bright blue and there is lace type antenna's with knots on them.

The second bug is a ladybird and has a stripy felt body in yellow and red. The wings are bright light green with dots in other shades of green. There is also white dots on the wings. These wings are made out of crinkly material and will make noise as soon as they are touched.

*MY OPINION**

I have had these for my daughter since she was a month old and to be honest at the start she didn't really like them. In fact she actually cried when I put them on her. So I thought I might as well make some use out of them so I attached the wrist rattles to her moses basket handle and she loved looking at them. In fact she started to coo and talk to them and was very happy to look at them.

Now my daughter is three months old which is the recommended age for these rattles she loves them on her wrists and shakes away to hear them. She touches the bugs and will put them into her mouth to explore them. She hasn't quite got the hang out of touching her feet yet with the foot rattles.

My cousin's daughter has this set as well in fact that is the reason why I bought them. Her daughter loves the feet rattles and tugs at them in fact she even tries to put them into her mouth at times.

As my daughter is still yet to find her feet so to speak so they are wasted on her at the minute. However I am hoping like my cousins daughter she will love to tug them in a few weeks.

I feel this toy is fantastic for young babies as they are too young for other toys and my daughter has developed while using them.

The wrist rattles have come in handy for attaching to her moses basket and I now attach them to her car seat and it contents her when she is looking at them. I hand them sometimes to her and shake them. They are good as quite often younger babies drop rattles and have to be given them constantly. As you can attach these to their wrists it is handier. The different textures are great for your baby to explore with different materials and sounds.

The feet finders are good as well as they encourage babies to stretch towards their feet and touch the brightly coloured bugs. It also means they soon learn that if they move their feet a rattling sound with happen. The same thing happens with the wrist rattles.

I really like these rattles and I think they are very cute to look at. My daughter likes the look of them as well as they are contrasting colours and bright she can spend hours staring at them.

They can be washed in the washing machine when they get dirty so they are easily cleaned.

I feel that they are slightly overpriced at £11.99 however they work out cheaper if you are buying them as part of a set like I did. Even so I do feel that they are worth the money as they are a good toy for younger babies.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Good for sensory and physical development

We were given these as a present when our son was born. I had looked at them in the shop a few times but hadn't picked them up- I am so glad that someone else had the sense to!

The black and white stripes on the socks are great for grabbing attention, especially when your child is younger as the contrasting colours are easier to see. The bugs on the feet and wrist straps are really bright and cute looking, my son really likes the ones on the wrist straps and spends a long time staring at them!

I found the socks more useful than the wrist straps because my son became more aware of his feet through using the socks whereas the only thing he seemed to do with the wrist straps was look at the bugs. The socks are great for body awareness in young babies- my son can now reach the rattling bugs on the feet to hold them which in turn is helping him to notice the movement of his legs.

These are great for sensory and physical awareness and development, and the cute characters make them more fun. The wrist rattles are nice but seemed quite bulky initially I haven't had much use out of them, not as much as the socks.

Overall I think these are a good buy for any parent who wants to try and encourage their child to be aware of their body movements, they fit easily over clothes and are small so easy to store. The colours are nice, and my son seems to enjoy them!

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

a great fun toy for a baby

A very dear friend of mine brought these as a gift for our new baby.

In the set there are 4 pieces, two wrist rattles and two sock rattles.

The first wrist rattle has a purple wrist strap that velcros onto the babys wrist, there is a small square of velcro on one end of the wrist strap and this can stick all along the inside of the strap making it easy to fit on to a variety of different sized wrists and would fit a child up untill around 12 months old, It has what i think is supposed to be a bumble bee on it that rattles when you shake it and its wings make a crinkling noise too, the second wrist strap has a striped band and a beetle attached to it that rattles when it is shook.

The socks are just one size which is way too big for a new born baby but will fit a baby from around 6 months untill they are aproximately 12 months old, They are black and white striped and made of a lovely soft material, on the first there is a lady bug that rattles when baby kicks her feet, on the second there is a butterfly that rattles when baby kicks her feet and its wings also make a crinkly noise.

I think they are a very good toy for a very young baby as they are very brightly coloured which stimulates the child and develops there vision at the same time as developing there hearing sences with the rattling and crinkling, my daughter who is just 11 weeks old absolutley adores these and thinks it is great to make a noise with them by moving her arms around or kicking her feet she has learnt they will make the noise and she chuckles to her self when they do, they will fit her for a while yet so she will get lots of play out of these and luckily they are machine washable as she has already tryed to eat the wrist rattles.

They retail at around £12.99 which is a little expensive for what they are but if your baby loves them as much as mine does it will be money well spent.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

A fun rattle and footfinder set that purports to aid baby's sensory development

~~~~~~~~~~~INTRODUCTION~~~~~~~~~~~

While sorting out the house in anticipation of my newborn son coming home (mother and baby were in hospital for four days after he was born) my wife asked me to order some relatively run of the mill baby stuff on-line (bottles, sterilisers and the like). While surfing Amazon, I noticed some recommendations they had made on the back of some previous baby-related purchases. Normally, I ignore them, as I can find Amazon's assumptions of what you may like a little weird and intrusive, but on this occasion, one particular item caught my eye - the colourful Lamaze Gardenbug Wrist Rattle and Footfinder Set.

~~~~~~~~~WHAT IS IT?~~~~~~~~~

Simply put, it's a pair of socks and wristbands decorated in vivid colours, each adorned with a cute little bug of some description with a subtle rattle embedded in it. The bright contrasting colours and patterns are intended to stimulate baby's vision, the rattles - as well as the "crispy" wings on two of the bugs - are meant to engage baby's hearing, and the combination of textures help develop the sense of touch. Putting these things on baby's wrist and feet is also meant to help them develop their motor skills and eye-hand coordination.

The four item set is currently available from Amazon for £8.49 with free delivery and is intended for babies from birth to around nine months. We have been using ours with Baby H since he was five weeks, as - because he was a preemie baby - the socks were a little too big for him at the start.

~~~~~~~~~~~DO THEY WORK?~~~~~~~~~~~

The two black and white striped "footfinders" are adorned with an orange and red butterfly with crinkly, glossy green and blue wings, and slide effortlessly onto baby's feet. The socks are not shaped (i.e. no heel) and are not elasticated, so if you find them too big, they can be put over a thicker pair of socks - which also helps keep them orientated and on their feet.

The wrist rattles are fitted with a Velcro band. The genius part of it is that the entire underside of the band engages with the Velcro tab (rather than having a fixed point at which the two sides attach) making it one size fits all and full adjustable.

Like the footfinders, there is a bug on each - one that looks like some sort of black and white striped fly (with the same kind of material used for the wings as the butterfly - this time in orange and yellow) and the other is a podgy looking beetle yellow and purple beetle with thin satin strips for legs. The wristbands are decorated in bright patterns and colours as well - one in swirls and the other in stripe, so there is a broad variety of stimulus for the baby.

Baby H took to them immediately and they keep him happily entertained and cooing between feeding, burping and sleeping sessions. One thing to note is that they do wake him up if they are left on, as even though the sound made by the rattles is quite soft and muted, they are still enough to startle him into starfish mode.

I can't comment on the science and development part of it - I have to take that on trust - but to adult eyes they look like a lot of fun - and from what I can tell from Baby H's expressions, they do engage him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ARE THEY WORTH IT?~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The £12.99 RRP is a bit steep, but they represent much better value at their reduced price of £8.49. The product is made of polyester and cellophane and all parts are fully machine washable - a must with baby stuff. They are well stitched and durable, with each of the bugs securely and firmly attached - in other words, baby is not going to be able to remove them and none of the smaller parts (such as the legs or antennae) are going to come free.

Each of the items has a Lamaze tag on the outside of it that is discreet enough not to be too annoying. However, one of the wrist rattles has a care label on it that is almost half the size of the wristband, so we had to cut this off as its unsightly. The instructions are repeated on a label inside one of the socks, so it was no loss.

~~~~~~VERDICT~~~~~~

All in all, this has proved to be a successful purchase, but with the wrist rattles possibly a bit more user friendly than the footfinders - mainly because Baby H has a habit of kicking the latter off unless they are securely fitted over socks.

The reduced price is a good balance between cost and quality, as buying the two items (wrist rattles and footfinders) separately (even from other manufactuers such as Mothercare's own brand or Manhattan Toys) would cost more, and from what I could see from similar items available, the design and colour scheme is unique to Lamaze.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

I would recommend this product as its fun and easily stored away!

I purchased this wrist rattle and foot finder set for my baby boy, I started to put the wrist rattles on him when he was 3 months. He loves to wave his arms around to hear the sound, but his favourite activity with them, was of course to suck them!

There are 2 wrist rattles in the set and they fasten around your baby's wrist with velcro.They are very bold colours with a soft bug on each one. (Im not sure what bugs they are meant to be but they are cute anyway.)

My baby is now 4 months and has found his feet, therefore I have started to put the foot finders on him, and they are just like socks that slide on.There are 2 feet finders in this set, the sock is black and white striped and there is a colourful butterfly on one and a colourful ladybird on the other one which rattle.The only bad point is that my little boy keeps pulling them off his feet!

These types of toys are fantastic for your baby's development.They promote hand-eye co-ordination and general visual development.They are also a good product for problem solving as baby has to work out how to make them rattle and how to reach the foot finders.They also promote a sense of achievement from a very young age with the rewarding sounds.

They are machine washable too, which is a bonus.Recommended for babies aged 3 months and over.

Cost:This set is £8.79 in Argos and £8.49 at Amazon

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

half of the product was great the socks always fell off

We bought these garden bug and wrist finders when my son was about 2 months old. I have just remembered we had them as I was putting them in a box to go into storage in case we decide to have another little bundle. So as I found them I thought I would do a review on them for dooyoo

What are they?***************The Garden bug Wrist Rattle & Foot finder is part of a set of baby toys from Lamaze. Lamaze claim the following about these:"See: Bright contrasting colors and patterns stimulate vision Hear: Rattles, squeaks and crinkles develop auditory senses Touch: Different textures to grip and grab refine motor skills Imagine: Lovable characters inspire pretend play and enhance social skills"An awful lot from such small items I know, but being the neurotic fist time mum who wants to do everything possible to help her son develop I was sold so dually purchased these from Amazon.When they arrived these and I opened the packet I saw these the cute garden bugs on both socks and wrist rattles and thought my money had been well spent. They are made from soft black and white fabric, with soft Velcro-style fastenings on the wrist rattles. The black and white contrasting colors are said to help baby's vision develop in those crucial early months. The bright patterns of the bugs against this black and white I thought would make a good contrast and help him develop hand-to-eye coordination skills.

In use and our experience*******************************The high expectations I had of these bugs never seemed too be meet.

The wrist rattles were great and though the bugs initially were about the same size of my sons hands he seemed to love trying to pat them chew them and generally shake his hands and arms to get the bugs to make their rattle noise. The wings of one of the bugs on the wrist rattle would crackle as he touched or chewed it which seemed to give him pleasure as he would often smile away at the bugs on his wrists. The other wrist bug had bits of ribbon for legs and this though interesting to him and he would try to swat at it was less stimulating for him and he would always prefer the wrist that the crinkly wings was on to look at and touch.

The sock rattles were the big disappointment for me. I could never get them to stay on his feet I tried with socks without socks bugs on the top of the foot bugs under his feet but always within about 10 minutes at least one of them would fall off. The worst culprit for this was the sock with the butterfly on it. I think the reason for this was that the butterfly was so long that on my sons foot at least if he curled is toes or moved his foot the butterfly could move with it and would start to work its way off. In the end we ended up just using the wrist rattles for him.

Would I recommend them?**********************************I do like the Lamaze brand but on this occasion I would say rather than buying the wrist and foot finder set to maybe just buy a wrist finder and try a different brand for separate foot finders Its because of this I have only given the product 3 stars as he loved half the product.

Where from ***************These are available currently from Amazon for £8.49

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

-

I first saw the Lamaze Gardenbug Wrist Rattles & Footfinder set (phew! What a mouthful!) reviewed in a pregnancy & baby magazine & thought they looked really practical & funky. So, after hunting around on the net, I purchased a set from Amazon.co.uk.

The set comprises 4 pieces - 2 wrist rattles & 2 foot rattles. The wrist rattles fasten around babies wrist via Velcro, & are adjustable for different sized wrists. The foot rattles are basically socks & just slip on as so. Each piece has a different 'bug' on it - the wrist rattles have 'beetles' & the foot rattles have flying insects. Each piece is made of different materials in bright, contrasting colours & patterns, to stimulate babies vision. The insects wings also 'crinkle', aswell as each piece containing a rattle, to develop auditory senses. The set is very well made of quality materials.

My one 'bug'-bear (groan...) with the set is that the 'socks' don't have a heel in them, & aren't very stretchy, so fall off very easily. It helps to put them on over a regular pair of socks, but a few kicks & they soon end up on the floor!

The whole set is very cute - the gardenbugs are lovely & colourful, & have happy, smily faces. The set is recommended from 0+, but I would say my son didn't start to appreciate the wrist rattles until a couple of months old, & the foot rattles from around 4 months old (they definitely help him to 'find' his feet!). I think it's a great little set, & would make a lovely gift as even the packaging is very attractive.

The RRP of this set is £12.99, but they can be found cheaper on the internet. Prices fluctuate wildly on Amazon - I paid around £5.75, but they are currently (@ July 09) £8.79.

Comments

Product Details

The Lamaze Gardenbug Wrist Rattle & Footfinder Set of baby toys from Lamaze make excellent gifts. Put the cute garden character socks on baby's feet and rattles on their wrists and watch as baby learns that by shaking their feet and hands they can make a sound. Made from soft fabric, they are easy and comfortable to wear, with soft velcro-style fastenings on the wrist rattles. The bright patterns and faces develop hand-to-eye coordination skills, and the fun sounds reward exploration. The black and white contrasting colours will help baby's vision develop in those crucial early months.